Real Footy: semi-finals teams

RYAN Fitzgerald and Heath James have been having the same conversation for more than a decade about the man who was all too fleetingly their teammate, yet will forever be part of their lives: How come Jude Bolton went in harder than both of them, yet they were the ones who always got hurt?

''It's as if he doesn't have that sense of the body around him at all,'' says Fitzgerald, who was MC at Bolton's wedding in 2009. ''You watch him and you cringe sometimes … 'Mate, you're really going to injure yourself'.''

''I remember the first time I met him,'' recalls James, who was Bolton's best man. ''He had the blond foils in his hair, that sort of thing, and I thought, 'There's no chance you're going to be a tough, inside player'. ''

Taking wing: Jude Bolton will again be a vital part of Sydney's bid for victory. Photo: Getty Images

James was soon reminded of the falsehood of first impressions, and is proud to hold such a warrior so dear, even if it worries him when he ponders their post-football get-togethers. ''He's not going to be able to walk when he's 40. I dunno how he's going to get around the golf course with me.''

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This trio's bond was forged when they arrived at Sydney via the 1998 draft - Fitzgerald at selection four, Bolton pick eight, and James the highly-rated son of former South Melbourne forward Max. It's now nine years since Fitzgerald made an enforced career shift into TV and radio, his shoulders and knees reconstructed twice over, and seven years since James finally bowed to his body after a maddening 11 hamstring injuries and sundry other ailments.

Their AFL careers amount to exactly 18 games each, and still Bolton soldiers on. To the notion that he and Fitzgerald must have ingested Bolton's share of gremlins in the water of the Botany house they shared, James laughs. ''He's starting to go bald now, so it all evens out in the end, doesn't it?''

A few hairs are all about Jude Bolton that's given up the ghost. As Adam Goodes plays his 300th game tonight, Bolton strips for No. 279 (and 300th ''official'' game, counting pre-season and international rules).

He is contracted for next season, and having played at least 21 games in each of the last nine years, is on course to reach this numerical mark of the greats.

His durability is astounding. Since missing a week with a calf strain in 2002, Bolton has played in all but four of Sydney's 222 subsequent games. In 13 seasons playing a brutal sport with zero regard for his own wellbeing, injury has kept him out of just six games.

His mates are unabashed in their admiration. Says Fitzgerald: ''It's just so magnificent that when my career fell over, to stay involved in football with a good mate and watch how well he goes on with his career. It's just been a pleasure.'' And James: ''More people need to be made aware of what he's done, I just think he's unreal.''

The word Brett Kirk uses is trust - that most cherished of team sport qualities that says every man at your side will give his all, no matter what.

''I loved playing with him,'' says the former captain, who literally banged heads with Bolton beneath many a pack, but knows nothing could shake the 31-year-old from embodying his beloved Bloods. ''Inside the walls, you look at our ethos and what the club stands for, you look at guys like Jude Bolton and he's been a really big driver in the culture of the footy club, how we want to be seen.''

Which makes it hard to fathom that, at the end of 2007 - way back when he'd led with his head in only 187 games - the Swans told Bolton they would trade him if they could. The theory was that he couldn't sustain the battering and continue his level of influence; that he was about to ''fall off the cliff''.

''He was really hurt, he put so much into the club, and to have his name thrown around …'' James recalls. ''He wouldn't say it, but it hurt him a lot.'' Fitzgerald cites his loyalty, adding that ''deep inside it would have been killing him''.

Kirk remembers no great bitterness, only a resolve to change what he needed to get better still. Bolton responded in 2008 with one of his best seasons. ''That's pretty much how his career's rolled - he's always found a way, whether it's around it, over it or through it,'' says Kirk. He notes Bolton's success this year in a forward role, the bite and lift in pressure from the young players around him.

A lasting image of the Swans' 2005 premiership is Bolton's head swathed in a bloodied bandage, but his greatest physical triumph that year was concealed under shoulder strapping. A separation of the joint in round 19 should have ended his season, but he played on, laid seven tackles a week and lifted the premiership cup.

''To be honest, the whole Swans culture, a lot of other blokes get the praise, but I think Jude's been instrumental in it all,'' says James. ''Blokes at the club just want to be around him. Look at what he does … he's just the best in my eyes.''

2 comments

Long ago Jude was my obvious choice to captain an Under 16 representative cricket team, for his natural leadership which is more important that playing ability in such roles. Had a chance to talk to Goodesy at a wake about Jude's cricket. Adam claimed to be an even better player which again illustrates the loss of talent to cricket that the professionalising of our indigenous code continues to cause.Up and down to Sydney with work provided opportunities to enjoy a few games in the intimacy of the SCG. Eventually settling back in Melbourne, having known Jude and followed Ryan O'Keefe since juniors, it became easy to become a Melbourne-based Sydney member, seeing the six games here or Geelong a year and maybe one or two interstate, with the bonus of a couple of tight grand finals. Time flies while you are having fun and I've now chalked up ten years membership, often wondering whether Jude might eventually get a nod for one of the Swans' joint captaincy roles. More recently I've accepted the way he plays doesn't really need official recognition to provide the leadership that was so obvious in the youngster.

Commenter

Tony Smith

Location

Strathmore

Date and time

September 16, 2011, 9:16AM

I remember when Jude's name was mentioned at trade time. Every member was stunned, but I honestly believe that the swans never intended on trading him, but it was used as a wake up call to the other players on the list that there places weren't assured either. Jude's as much of a blood as Captain Kirk. Even without the C next to his name on game day he's still a valuable leader.